My Irish Eyes are Smiling!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What a super-fun day for all!

Having true irish roots, I have always loved St. Patrick's Day --- frankly, what holiday don't I love, but this one is always a good time.

Today was McKinley's party at school. Most schools probably don't party it up too much for this holiday, but when you attend St. Patrick's School....it's kind of a big deal. That's pretty obviously when they paint a giant shamrock in the middle of the intersection in front of the church! I can remember that ALWAYS being such a BIG DEAL!!!!! My Grandparents and parents always took me by to check and see if it had been repainted yet. It always looks so good, especially for being there for THAT long - ugh, did I just say that???

McKinley's school party was precious. All the children were dressed in green, McKinley wore his McCutie shirt - which I adore. I made a new one...not sure how many more years I can get away with "McCutie", so why not ride it out?! The kids were so excited to have had several visits from a leprechan and even more excited for the chance to have a party, some treats and play outside with a potato sack race (appropro, no?).

In the afternoon McKinley and I hit the park with Robin, Savannah & Austin - we were all in green! And after the crazy-busy park, it was only fitting that we have St. Patrick's Day cupcakes again this year. I think we have ourselves a little tradition!

When we got home McKinley found that we'd had a little leprechan visit at our home! He brought McKinley a robot notebook and some other fun little things. For dinner - Shepard's Pie, green milk and green yogurt!!!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lynn

McKinley peeping through the keyhole for the elusive leprechan!

I love a Parade

I can honestly say that McKinley and fam have been waiting for this event for nearly an entire year...since the moment we signed McKinley up for preschool, to be exact. McKinley's first year as a participant for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade was a hit!

Ever the lover of everything themed and holiday, I have long stocked up on St. Patrick's Day attire and some decor. This year I even scored a hilarious stick-on green mustache, which I promptly mounted on a stick. Mustache in hand, McKinley put on his green, some tattoos, a shamrock tie and some beads as I loaded up and decorated the wagon (decked in green myself, of course...and some funny shamrocks growing from my head), we headed for the parade line up. In the mix with McKinley's preschool class, we were one of only 3 preschool participants who chose to walk - which was no question for McKinley because that is the only place where he could throw candy from...and I'm proud to report he threw THREE large bags of candy all by himself!

Something I did not prepare myself for was seeing as many friends as we did! The minute we hit the Boulevard we saw several friends. I tried so hard to resist chatting...but I might have failed at that...like a hundred times. There was my high school friend Laura, there were a few couples from church, Cary's co-worker's wife and kids, Sarah and fam, The Semmler Fam, and of course...Daddy. There were high school classmates, a few of my Mom's friends. Oh my gosh - so many people, such a fast little parade. We got behind. Waaaaay behind and I had to book it to keep from holding the parade up. Ooops. Next year we might ride in the truck, then I can just wave and talk until we are out of earshot. Lesson learned, but we had a great time, me and McKinley!

Once we had arrived at school, McKinley and I pulled over to watch the rest of the parade with a few of his classmates. He really enjoyed watching and when Miss Kymberli came over to visit, bringing more classmates in tow, he enjoyed making them all laugh with his green mustache on a stick even more!

The day was gorgeous - much warmer than last year...and drier, for that matter. I can only hope that this was the first of many fun-filled St. Patrick's Day weekends. It was awesome to share this with McKinley, Cary and so many good friends.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lynn

Find the Good...find the good...find the good - POINT!

As I sat and attempted to collect my thoughts and plan of action, stranded with my son after our Murano suddenly died in the middle of a busy street behind the Indianapolis Airport, I thought this must surely be a joke. Matter of fact, I spoke those very words and McKinley replied, "What's a joke, Mommy? What's funny?"
Well, pretty much nothing about this is funny.
I immediately called my Mother - whom I was picking up from the airport - and informed her of what had happened. She had to take a cab to meet us, obviously NOT the original plan. After calling Mom, I began calling our dealership, the local dealership in Indianapolis, the warranty company and then Cary. I felt bad for calling him last, but I knew we were getting close to a Saturday closing time with ALL of the places that could help me. Cary was getting off work and left for Indianapolis right away.
Mom arrived at our car and after way too many close calls of idiot drivers (seriously, there are people out there who have NO business being behind the wheel), I called 911. Within just a few minutes TWO Plainfield police cars pulled behind us - lights blazing. They were BEYOND nice. Words cannot express what a huge relief they were to me as, internally, I neared panic with cars dangerously wizzing by nearly rear-ending us many times.
Not only did these officers offer to check out my car, they actually called ANOTHER police officer from the station to bring a charger for my battery (which was now dead...and after a valiant effort, didn't work). Two of the officers were called out and left, but the one lone officer vowed not to leave until Cary arrived or the wrecker arrived - or both if he could. He made good on his word. Over two hours he stayed with us, offering to put us in the police car to stay warm, because as with crazy Indiana weather, it had begun to SNOW. In early March. Super. We passed on the police car ride - never done that and hope to keep it that way at all costs! But the offer was much appreciated.
Cary arrived, I stepped out of the car and allowed myself to let a little stress go with him.
We all moved the car further out of the way and to make more room for the flat bed wrecker who was on the way after what seemed like a thousand calls to warranty companies, dealerships and more. By now we had three cars in this little area and it was freezing. The wrecker driver called and was behind due to traffic and the police officer was at the end of his shift, so we were left to wait a few minutes by ourselves. We bid the office farewell and thanked him over and over for his courtesy. I told him before I called I watched 2 state troopers and 2 county officers drive by my car without stopping and that I was so very grateful to him. He said he thought of his own wife and child at home and would hope someone would stop for them, that's why he does what he does. Nice!!!!!!
Finally, the wrecker arrived to tow us back to the Haute. He was so kind. When I explained that McKinley and I had never gotten lunch and had been stranded like this for over 3 hours he told us all to go sit down, relax, eat and take our time. He would wait for us at the dealership. I was so thankful for that...
When we arrived home, exhausted, I reflected on several things and was reminded of this funny book of McKinley's featuring 'Dug' from the movie "Up". In the book 'Dug', the dog, sniffs his way around to find 'the BIRD', repeating "Find the bird...find the bird...find the bird! Point!" many times. I sort of felt like 'Dug' at that moment, sniffing out to "find the good...find the good...find the good! Point!"
Well, after much consideration (and perhaps a tiny little pity party, with me as host), I was able to determine this:
Yes, it really stunk to be stranded so close to picking up my Mom (the ENTIRE reason for our trip), and yes it was cold, stressful and frustrating...not to mention expensive (hello, tow bill!). However, I found a lot of good in a bad situation. I got to spend the morning with my son, toodling around aimlessly at his very favorite store (Dick's) where he putted to his heart's content and got some new junior golf balls. We had a lovely drive, a fun shopping trip and spent quality time together.
Also, we got to see my Mom after 2 weeks away on vacation. She manned a napless McKinley while I tended to the car, police officer, many phone calls and traffic - she was a huge help to me.
As usual, I schleped a blanket, water, snacks and fruit, so we were covered as far as food, drink and warmth.
Our warranty company was able to schedule the wrecker and arrange delivery of our car and cover some of the cost of the tow.
Cary was able to come to our rescue and pick us up.
There's a lot of good in what happened. I'm thankful to have found it.

One of the best things was to have found NOTHING (yes, NOTHING) wrong with the car. I'd like to think she just got a little PMS-y with me. No doubt our car is a woman...she's still very young and refuses to show any age, she just didn't feel like doing anything that day. Let's just say that she better rethink doing that again.

Needless to say, we were unable to make it to Reagan's or Braelyn's Birthday Parties, so Round Two of the Birthday Adventures through Indiana has been cancelled. We will resume next March.
What a day!
Lynn

Birthday Party Circuit...round one

In the span of 12 days in February and March we have EIGHT birthdays of friends and family! In the last year March has become THE birthday party month for us. It is always fun to make our plans, shop for gifts and see people we don't get to see very often.

This Saturday the birthday parties began with Lila's 4th birthday party in Crown Point. We had so much fun at the party, it was wonderful to sit and talk to my dear friend, Vanessa (who is expecting Baby Girl #2 near MY birthday!). We live several hours away so it is difficult for us to get together as often as we would like. McKinley and Lila had the best time together running around like 3 and 4 year olds! They chased a bear (Vanessa's Dad in a Chicago Bear hat), had a coloring contest, gave us a concert with their two-child band then switched to a one-man band with a dancer...but the funniest act of the day by far was the impromptu wedding of McKinley and Lila.

Cary and I were sitting near the foos ball table, chosen hide out for McKinley and Lila during this conversation, when we overheard the following:

Lila: McKinley! Do you have a have a girlfriend?
McKinley: Well, Yes! Savannah!

Lila: McKinley, do you love her?

McKinley: Yes, I do.

Lila: McKinley are you going to get married?

McKinley: Well......no, but I have been married before.

Ha!!!!!!!!!! This was news to the Mother & Father of the Groom! I just love preschoolers' conversations.

All too soon it was time to head home, we are dog sitting Mom's two cocker spaniels while she is in Florida, plus we had to get some rest for the next day's adventure.

The next morning we got ready to head to Brownsburg for Austin's 1st birthday! McKinley had a lot of fun playing with Savannah and her cousins and family friends. He was the only older boy at the party among four preschool and elementary aged girls, so he was quite the man. At one point, I peeked into Robin's Mom's playroom and found our son playing Barista to three of the girls who seemed enamored by McKinley's talents. It was hilarious. I couldn't stop watching as McKinley intricately described to them each step of his tea/coffee/beverage making job. He happily served each of them a drink and then had one of his own!

We all sang to Austin and watched as he attempted to sample some cake (which he liked much better after his Daddy began feeding it to him).

Soon it was time to head home from our busy weekend tour of Indiana. We had a great time with good friends and are looking forward to Reagan and Braelyn's birthday parties next Saturday and Sunday!

Lynn

Party Pics:

Lemonade & Luck...or the lack of

Earlier in the month I posted about what happened to our home during the ice storm. Good times. Well, full of more good news (sense the sarcasm), as the installers (sub-contractors) were preparing the facia to hang the new guttering they informed me - on the way out the door to pick up McKinley from school - that the facia in the front needed to be replaced completely. They don't do that. Okay, call us when it's done. See ya!

Ummmmkay..........

So I began the process of getting estimates for new facia in the front because our contractor was covered up with jobs (due to the ice) and could not help. The estimates I received were for WAY more money that either of us wanted to shell out and having been long-time DIY'ers we thought we could tackle the task ourselves and save well over 75% of what was quoted. So, we set out to paint and hang the facia on our own. That Sunday, while McKinley was napping, I painted the new facia boards as Cary pulled off the old and prepped for the new boards. Once the new boards were dry Cary began hanging them while I served as scrub nurse, co-pilot, gofer, etc. We made quick work of the project and I'm so very proud of what we accomplished. It may not be perfect but it's sturdy, secure and looks good.

Life has been handing out an awful lot of lemons lately but we make a MEAN lemonade. I am so glad we can show our son how rewarding it can be to stand on your feet when there is no help to be found. Knowing this, and some basic home repair tasks will take him far in his adult life.

I hope we are nearing the end of this job...looking forward to testing out the new gutters, taking down the ladder, and resuming the redecoration of the mudroom and dining room.

Lynn

Dear Zoo,

See this face?

It pretty much sums it up...we've missed you so! It has been a long, hard winter, so our impromtu zoo visit, though short and without many un-cold-friendly animals, was so sweet. A wonderful taste of the spring and summer to come, full of many visits to one of McKinley's very favorite destinations.

The highlight of my day? This photo...

Despite the glare (because when you are trying to capture a poignant photo of a 3 1/2 year old and a cheetah, one must work quickly and forego some camera modifications) it still turned out pretty well. How many children can go face-to-face with a cheetah...well, safely that is. Unless you are Diego (from Go Diego Go for those who do not speak Nick Jr.), there aren't a lot of opportunities to be 2 inches of glass from a rare cat. Funniest part: McKinley saying, "Awwww! Come here sweet kitty! I wish I could pet you!" Yeah, I'm pretty sure the cheetah had a wish of her own!

Beautiful day, zoo, we will see you soon!

Lynn

Story of a Toy Box

If you REALLY know me, you know I am obsessed with Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids. This company has LONG been an obsession of mine, heck we practically replicated one of their nurseries for McKinley. So, it should come as no surprise that I frequently scour the websites just to see what I see. Well, just before Christmas I saw something that immediately caught my attention, a sweet toy box. Ever since we decorated McKinley's Big Boy Room we just had not been happy with a particular area that was not functioning well. I am all about function in our home - if it's non-functioning then it drives me bonkers until I make it...well...function. So, when I saw this toy box I KNEW it was perfect for that crazy little space, and what a pop of color! The thing was bright red! I showed it to Cary who agreed it was pretty sweet, but I just could not bring myself to pay nearly $300 for something I felt would be simple construction and easy to make. I waited...and waited. It went on sale! Still way more than the materials would ever cost, but better than $300. I finally convinced myself to suck it up and click "add to cart"...and as I did so a big, ugly red sign came up and said the item I selected was no longer available.

WHAT?

I literally closed the laptop and walked away.

I checked back regularly. Yep, still unavailable until November 2011. No way.

Then one day I was casually perusing through a new magazine, Fresh Home, where I found an interesting woman with an equally interesting website: knockoffwood.com. Very cool. Something made me turn on the computer and check out this site. I was instantly hooked! Such beautiful things she was GIVING people the plans for! HELLO!

And then, I happened on something that made me yell out loud: plans for a toy box, on legs, just like the pottery barn kids box!

When Cary got home I showed him the plans and cooked up my own...we were going to have wood shop 101 that Sunday!

On Saturday we gathered all of our supplies (the wood was roughly $25...no kidding) and took them home with plans to make the box Sunday. I could barely sleep. I had a dream about that toy box - weird!

Sunday morning we were both all ready to whip out the woodworking materials! It was really cold so we totally set up our 'shop' in the entryway, complete with a work table, clamps, drill, jigsaw and vacuum (because I was the vacuum girl, determined to NOT have sawdust throughout the house).

In no time at all we had the entire piece together! I was shocked! I took it outside (brrrrr!) and sanded the entire thing down, then back in to prime and paint (with no voc paint, of course!). All this, in ONE DAY! The last step was the hardest though - the special "Toys" decal that we wanted to replicate with my Mom's talented, artistic hand (see McKinley's nursery where she free-handed scrollwork on around the entire room). That was a process...lots of steps, but today the piece is finished!

Well...maybe.

I may add an aging glaze over the entire piece to 'rough' it up a bit. It's a little bright, needs to look a little more worn in ---- BUT SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so proud of the work we all put into this piece. Cary (and a few of my Mom's friends) think we need to sell these suckers. It would be adorable as a planter, or small sandbox. The possibilities are endless.

The best part - the little unused and non-functioning space in McKinley's bedroom is now a full functional area that he LOVES. Though we don't keep many toys in his bedroom, he has a few that find their way in there from time to time and they have a happy little home now.

All is well!

Lynn

P.S. Please excuse the messy book stack. Still working on just how I want all those books set up!

A Little Love PARTAAAY!

Cutest Valentine's Day Party pretty much EVER, complete with arrow and heart hats, a class dressed in red and goodies galore! Best part of the day for me? Sharing the party experience with my husband, who was off work for the day! McKinley's face was full of pure joy when he saw us both...it made my heart sing!

McKinley chose Ratatouille (the movie) valentines for his sweet classmates, he wrote on some of them, I wrote on the others. We totally ran out of time on them because we were working on another sweet treat to include in the precious Valentine boxes for his preschool friends and Miss Lori & Miss Kymberli:

Valentine Confetti! I found the awesome recipe here. I made some changes for our version: popped the popcorn on the stovetop in coconut oil instead of using microwave - that's what we prefer anyway. I also used the plain white candy melts instead of the confetti version so the white popped a little more. And I highly recommend allowing the candy to cool almost completely before beginning the mixing process so the M&M's don't melt. We layered the M&M's in the bottom, the cooled popcorn next, to create a barrier from the heat of the candy, finally we poured in the candy (IN A HUGE BOWL!) and began mixing. We mixed quickly since we allowed the candy to cool, it was close to hardening. I layered a HUGE baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully laid clumps of the confetti out on the paper. Once it was cool we broke up the larger pieces, left some as is and placed them in the treat bags tied with red ribbon and a beautiful printable tag found here. They were a huge hit. We made them for friends and family as well.

McKinley had a really good time passing out the Valentine Confetti and his valentines, it was precious.

After those were finished it was time for treats (special parties require special treats that do not need to be healthy - a treat in and of itself!), then the great Valentine craft, a bean noisemaker! The day ended with a BANG! Ha!!!!!!!!!

I can say that McKinley napped like a champion this afternoon --- he earned it after such an awesome party!

Happy Valentines Day!

Lynn

A Love Story

It's almost Valentine's Day...a day I love. But about 12 years ago I was NOT a fan. I had yet to find my true love and was growing impatient with the...um...bottom feeders that were coming my way (Lordy there were some doozies...I can literally hear my Mom sigh just thinking back to those days).

I know this totally sounds like a Golden Girls, Sophia, "Picture it! Sicily, 1928..." moment, and maybe it is, but it's OUR story and apparently we are not the only ones who think its good!

Valentine's Day 1999 was a real downer. BLAH. I remember sitting in my friend's car and crying (after a date, mind you) because I knew he wasn't the one. I asked her when it would be my turn. And informed her that I gave up...

The following day, a handsome young man walked into L.S. Ayres (now Macy's) to track down a friend from college. He was new in town, didn't know a soul but Chrissy from U of I. He couldn't remember her last name, but remembered she worked at Ayres and thought it might be nice to reconnect with an old friend.

I was late. I know, no surprise, but this time it was my general manager's fault. He scheduled me an HOUR late to open the jewelry department. The Ayres general manager was in a panic. His store was open but those pesky jewelry girls hadn't opened up yet. Awesome. I arrived, shocked to find the store open...I rushed to pull the covers off of the cases and scrambled to get the jewelry from the safe. I remember exactly where I was standing. I pulled off the black cover, began folding it and out of the corner of my eye I saw a young man walking toward me. I was pretty grumpy after discovering my general manager's mistake and wasn't in the mood to talk, so I kept my head down...but don't think I didn't admire the eye candy walking by...I'm not stupid.

As I continued to get the counter open, I was working on the cash register when I saw the young man's head pop up from beneath the Ralph Lauren display just in front of me. He flipped some shirts around, appeared to be searching for something specific. Finally, after a few head bobs, he abruptly came up to my counter and said, "Uh, excuse me. Do you know Chrissy?"

I, in my best 20 year old valley girl replied, "Uhhhh, yeaaaah! She's like, my best friend." Good thing there was only one Chrissy who worked at Ayres.

He asked if she was working that day, I didn't think so and offered to call her for him but was NOT about to give him her number...you never know. So, I called her, asked if she knew a guy named Cary and that he was standing in front of me looking for her. She okay'ed the exchange of numbers and I told her I'd call her back.

Cary and I briefly chatted (remember, I did have a job to do, no matter how lame) but soon he was on his way. As soon as he was out of earshot I called Chrissy back.
OHMYGOSH, WHO IS HE??????? HE IS SO HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And so the conversation went on about how cute he was...we hung up.
Soon Chrissy called me. It seems the handsome young gentleman had no sooner left the mall and raced home to call Chrissy. I am told the conversation went like this: "Hi Chrissy, who's Lynn? She's pretty. Is she single?"

I think this was Chrissy first shot at matchmaking...she did pretty damn good...though this next part gets really sickening.

She convinced Cary to meet her at the mall after lunch, and called me again to say they were coming in to see me. I took a break and walked around with them for several minutes, Chrissy leading the conversation to break us in. I vividly remember that day. I remember very little about work though...

Anyway, after my break was over I went back to my 'cage' as I called it (we were boxed in...) and Chrissy literally made me give Cary a hug. Oh my, I still blush just thinking of that...really? He asked for my phone number, I happily obliged. He called that night. Yes, THAT NIGHT. He asked to take me out on a date, we made plans the following night. I ditched another date with that other guy (see beginning of post) and pretty much never called him again.

Cary and I went to see "Varsity Blues" on our first date. Neither of us even bothered with 'seeing other people'...we were set. Match made in heaven.

I'm not saying we've never had issues...a good marriage has issues occasionally. And God knows we are far from perfect people, but we are perfect for each other. We compliment one another so well....finish each other's statements...have the exact same thoughts at the exact same time. I am so very, very blessed and so eternally thankful to have found my sweet husband. He is amazing and funny and helpful and understanding, kind and thoughtful. He puts up with a heckuva lot being married to me. He has done so much for me, and of course for McKinley. He is my definition of 'ROCK' and I have no idea where I would fit in this world without him. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Just after we were married I won a radio contest for best proposal, and earlier this week I put up a post on the tiny prints facebook page. They asked how you met your valentine and said their favorites would be posted on their blog. Well, our shortened story is featured in their blog as one of their favorites! Didn't win anything this time (I WISH! I love their products!), but just knowing that someone else thinks it's pretty cool that I had to wait 364 days to celebrate my first Valentine's Day with my Valentine, and that Cupid came a day late is kind of fun.

You can find that blog post HERE.

So thankful for my Valentine.

I love you Cary!

Lynn

Whoa Mama!

Mother Nature packs a punch. And we have certainly felt the depth of that punch this week. In the middle of the ice storm, as I sat on our sofa in front of the huge picture window, I was jolted from my seat and thought the world was crashing down on us. Turns out it wasn't the whole world, as it sounded, but it was the whole gutter and facia from the entire length of our home. With it, the gutter/facia combo also brought down our phone line - ripped it from the side of the house!
Not an hour prior we saw a very large limb come crashing down into our backyard - thankfully, it didn't hit anything, but it certainly left a new problem...and a LOT of annoying sticks strewn about and a lot of cutting to do - while standing on ice.

So, we began the ordeal of having the gutters replaced - something sure to take a few weeks. And once that was on the way we had to find a way to 'skate' through the ice to get this huge limb chopped up and out of our way. Problem being, we no longer have a chainsaw...and a handsaw won't cut it - no pun intended.

We asked around to some friends if they had a chainsaw. All we wanted was to borrow one and do the work ourselves, but much to our surprise a good friend stepped up and offered to help. Not only did he log on facebook to put a post expressing his need to borrow at least one chainsaw, he contacted several of his own friends, finally tracking down two new chainsaws with a lot of promise.

To us, he even went a BIG step further and offered to cut the limb with Cary, in the bitter cold. We were truly humbled by the offer and cannot express our gratitude properly. Cary and Ben made very quick work of the ordeal as I prepared coffee and entertained McKinley and Lincoln. Then, a friendly invitation for coffee came from Lincoln's Mom, Kylie. The small break was more than welcome and we had a blast (as always) telling our stories and talking a HUNDRED miles a minute (because when you have a rare moment to talk without preschoolers, toddlers and newborns around you talk really, really fast because there is a LOT to be said!).

As Cary and I looked out the window, after the big clean up and coffee break the view was a little less of a blow. Now we wait for the ice to melt so that the repair can begin and the workers can be safe. In the meantime, our home has been secured from the weather and whatever else and we wait.

Having always been a huge fan of beautiful snow, it is so very unlike me to say this: I AM TRULY SICK OF WINTER. Spring has never been so welcome in our home.

I also need to point out how very blessed we are, and how thankful that there was no further damage. With such horrendous weather the outcome could easily have been much worse. We have much to be thankful for: our health, our home, true friendships, God's grace, and so much more.

Lynn

Ice, Ice Baby!

Boy, Mother Nature sure has a way with completely freaking a person out, and at the same time leaving them breathless.

Guess that's a woman for ya...

Well, Mama N. was in rare form this eve. She laid it all out there. Rain...in TWENTY NINE DEGREE WEATHER? Weird. Just weird.

As the evening went on you could look outside and see a glaze on EVERYTHING. I took photos of a shrub outside our front door through the entire storm.

About 2 hours in: when I touched the shrub is was starting to get 'crispy', if you will.

The next morning: Encased!

Day 3: This thing will not move! But it is gorgeous!















I was taken by the beauty of the ice and got brave enough to try standing ON the ice, I took so many photos! Isn't it amazing how something so beautiful can be so very dangerous!

Lynn

The last photo is of our brave little transformer. I would swear it was the only one left in the city after hearing them blow over and over again. This little guy only gave us a little flicker a few times and one very brief outage...miraculously! Had to photograph it just for posterity.